Eva Rune and Rickard Åström perform in Palo Alto on September 19

Eva Rune, one of Sweden's top young folk singers, will perform in concert at Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto on Friday evening, September 19, 1997. She will be accompanied by pianist Rickard Åström, a member of Groupa, the Swedish folk music band which has won the Swedish Grammy for their last two recordings.

Eva Rune was born in 1970 in Falun which lies in the middle of Dalarna. At an early age she came into contact with the rich folk music traditions of Dalarna and has been singing ever since. The vocal technique of kulning (herding calls) is one of Eva's specialities. For several years she has taught classes in kulning at the annual Falun Folk Music Festival. Eva's course is the most popular of all the courses and is always sold out first.

Eva is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. During her studies there, she became a member of "Rosenbergs Septet." This group consists of students and teachers from the Folk Music Department at the college. The group has been very enthusiastically received by audiences and music critics alike. Their recently released CD has met with similar praise. Eva is also a member of the folk music group "Svart Kaffe", which has toured in Sweden, France and Switzerland and is about to record their second CD. Eva is currently performing in the play "Rappatacki" by Susanne Marko at the Folkteatern in Gothenburg, Sweden. Nordic folk music is a vital ingredient in this music drama where Eva acts, sings and dances.

Eva will also be making appearances in Minneapolis, Knoxville, Chicago, and Seattle (see tour schedule on next page). Her tour is made possible by a Tällberg Foundation scholarship that she was awarded last year for being one of Dalarna's promising young folk musicians.

Rickard Åström was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1964. He studied piano and keyboards at the Gothenburg University of Music, receiving a Masters of Arts degree in 1988. Since his graduation, Rickard has made his living as a professional musician. His love for Swedish folk music together with his feel for contemporary jazz has given his piano playing a unique blend. Tours have brought him to places all the way between Iceland and India. In 1989-90, Rickard toured in the USA three times with the Swedish folk-jazz group Kerassia. They played in Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Houston, and in Kansas and Nebraska.

Eva and Rickard's concert will take place in the Parish Hall starting at 7:45 pm. After the concert the audience is invited to enjoy a Swedish refreshment buffet and music for dancing provided by Eva and Rickard. Tickets for the evening are $10 and are available at the door, which opens at 7:15. Saint Mark's is located at 600 Colorado Avenue between Middlefield Road and Cowper Street, south of the Oregon Expressway. Ample parking is available on the church grounds. The concert is being sponsored by the Northern California Spelmanslag. For more information, contact Fred Bialy at (510) 215-5974, Valerie Thompson at (650) 851-3376, or Joanne White at (650) 965-1208.

Scandia Camp Mendocino 1997

by Roo Lester

This year's camp is over but the experiences still dance in my head. Margot Sollie and Svein Olav Solli along with fiddlers Marit Larsen and Borghild Reitan brought to life the music and dance from Roros, Norway. We were treated to a wide repertoire of dance, music and food from the district. Participants said the dances were fun, easy and light hearted. The introduction of Roros style swing challenged our learning styles and left many of us wanting more lessons! Stig and Helen Eriksson with Thomas Westling introduced us to dances and music from Västmanland, Jämtland, Härjedalen and, the Eriksson's home, Östergötland. Their teaching style was clear and made the dances easy for us to learn. Mikael and David Eriksson, along with the other children at camp this year, added spunk and spontaneity creating a more complete sense of community.

Scandia Camp participants said it was a great week. They liked many different things about the camp: the friendliness and willingness of the teachers (not just Swedes & Norwegians) to dance with people other than their regular partners, the crafts and listening to music after meals and at happy hour, the tranquil setting, and that people were very friendly and welcoming. The camp was a unique experience, a chance to immerse oneself in dance and culture in a way that can never be done in a weekly dance class. It's a way to "recharge the batteries that's actually good for you."

Roo Lester co-directs the Mendocino Scandia Camp along with it's founder, Nancy Linscott. After 18 years, the camp continues to offer an "immersion experience" in the dance, music, food, and culture of the Nordic countries. May it continue to thrive in the years to come!

Norwegian Folk Dance Classes for Children in the Bay Area

by Crystal Lokken

"When I first saw children dancing Norwegian folk dances, I wished that I had been able to learn them when I was a child", says Mikkel Thompson, barneleikarring (children's dance group) teacher. One of the reasons for organizing children's classes in the Bar Area is to give kids an opportunity to have fun while they learn traditional dances of Norway. For those whose roots are Norwegian, learning the dances helps create pride in their heritage. For all, the hour-long classes are action-packed with tur (pattern) dances, song dances, songleik (song games) and bygdedans with such Norwegian names as Sjuspring, Tretur fra Fana, Klappdans, Halling and more! Parents have even been known to join in the fun!

Children ages 4 and up are welcome. Classes are in San Francisco on 1st Sunday, East Bay (Oakland) on 2nd Sunday, and Los Gatos on 4th Sunday. They are sponsored by Nordahl Grieg Leikarring and the Traveling Dance class. See Calendar section for details.

Nordahl Grieg Leikarring at Ethnic Dance Festival in San Francisco

by Mary Allsop

Nordahl Grieg Leikarring, danced out onto the stage, skirts whirling, smiles everywhere. It's the second week of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. The evening started with an exquisite performance by an Eastern Indian temple dancer, followed by pounding drums and vibrant dances from Polynesia, performed in grass skirts. I'm worried that Norwegian dances, with the proper bunads will seem overly reserved by comparison. However, the energy in the audience remained high and all were enthralled with the movement and rich costuming. The Leikarring showed the true community nature of the dance with their members of all ages. The choreography was impeccable, and each dance flowed smoothly into the next, like a musician's jam session -- one idea seeming to spring from the one before. They moved through the dance traditions of Northern Norway -- song dances, circle dances, turning dances -- always showing the gentle playfulness of these traditions. The live music, which included fiddle, recorder, mandolin and guitar, further added to the upbeat atmosphere.

Fourteen different ethnic dance groups performed that night, each presenting a dance tradition as rich and subtle as our own. The festival showcased a different set of dancers and traditions each weekend. Backstage, there is a shy, but intense mutual interest among the dancers, each knowing they share the commitment to preserve and cherish their national traditions. It was a rush to realize we are all united in the joy of these traditions and to also realize the infinite variety out there, while we stay holding down our small corner of the world.

Twelve members of the Nordahl Grieg Leikarring have been invited to perform at the Royal Norwegian Consulate's Embassy Ball, taking place in Phoenix, Arizona in October. Congratulations to you all!